Then, with a large loft bed structure in the space, Kim Johnson was alone, wheeling and tumbling under a dazzle of starburst projections that were activated by pulsing synthesizer music. As if in a dream she climbed to the top of the bed, where another woman, her alter-ego (Shura Baryshnikov), was asleep. In a wonderful exchange, Struckholz blew Baryshnikov over the edge of the bed and Baryshnikov pulled her down the ladder.

Dressed identically, they whispered together, shadowed each other. Then, in spite of her partner, Baryshnikov changed into a blouse and skirt. Like something newly hatched, she tested the space around her until, at the end, she was standing on the bed, reaching for the stars, as all five of the others watched her from the floor.

Kidd Pivot's Dark Matters at Jacob's Pillow The two-act drama, performed last week at Jacob's Pillow, blends the conventions of Japanese puppetry and Kabuki, movie animation, shadowplay, and contemporary dance into a spectacle of porous identities.

Dawn Kramer's 'Body of Water' Dawn Kramer's dance-and-video concert, "Body of Water," last weekend at Mass College of Art, ended with haiku projected on the walls of the performance space. It was almost too much.

West Side Story does it all The touring production now at the Colonial Theater (through July 9) suits a modern audience without extinguishing the show's greatest assets.

The Floordlords celebrate 30 years B-boys — b-girls had scant presence on this program — have gone commercial, but today's freestyle breaking technique builds on moves cut three decades ago (although a grainy Floordlords video indicates that the current generation has discarded stirrup pants for profanity-laced t-shirts).

Beijing Dance/LDTX fight the good fight Life is a struggle, according to the four works on Friday's program by Beijing Dance/LDTX (presented by the Celebrity Series at the Tsai Performance Center).

Boston Ballet’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream George Balanchine didn’t create a slew of full-length ballets, but it’s easy to see why a setting of Shakespeare’s ever-popular A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of them — and not just because, back home in St. Petersburg, when he was eight, he played a bug in a theater production of the Bard’s moonbeam-muddled comedy.

The meaning of 'THE' William Forsythe's 1991 ballet The Second Detail begins with 13 dancers in ice-blue leotards and tights, facing away from the audience.

Boston Ballet's 'Bella Figura' "Bella figura" in Italian is more than a phrase — it's a philosophy. It makes life beautiful. "Bella Figura" as the title of Boston Ballet's latest program is an invitation to find beauty in three disparate choreographic styles — one of them incorporating topless women (as well as men).

JOFFREY BALLET GETS ITS DUE | May 08, 2012 New York has two great ballet companies, New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater. Any other ballet troupe that wants to put down roots there has to develop a personality that's distinct from those two.

THE BOSTON BALLET’S DON QUIXOTE | May 01, 2012 In the long string of ballet productions extracted from Miguel de Cervantes's novel Don Quixote, the delusional Don has become a minor character, charging into situations where he shouldn't go and causing trouble instead of good works.